U.S. begins transporting French troops to Mali

ASSOCIATED PRESS

January 23, 2013 12:01 AM

French foreign legionnaires take position outside Marakala, central Mali, some 240kms (140 miles) from Bamako Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. French troops in armored personnel carriers rolled through the streets of Diabaly on Monday, winning praise from residents of this besieged town after Malian forces retook control of it with French help a week after radical Islamists invaded. The Islamists also have deserted the town of Douentza, which they had held since September, according to a local official who said French and Malian forces arrived there on Monday as well. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)AP

ASSOCIATED PRESS

January 23, 2013 12:01 AM

SEGOU, Mali -- American planes transported French troops and equipment to Mali, a U.S. military spokesman said Tuesday, as Malian and French forces pushed into the Islamist-held north.

The town of Douentza had been held by Islamist rebels for four months, about 120 miles northeast of Mopti, the previous line-of-control held by the Malian military in Mali's narrow central belt. The Islamist fighters have controlled the vast desert stretches of northern Mali, with the weak government clinging to the south, since a military coup in the capital in March 2012 unleashed chaos.

French and Malian troops arrived in Douentza on Monday to find that the Islam- ists had retreated from it, said a resident, Sali Maiga. "The Malian military and the French army spent their first night and the people are very happy," Maiga said Tuesday.

A curfew went into effect at 8 p.m., and no gunfire or other incidents were reported overnight, he said.

In September, a convoy of pickup trucks carrying bearded men entered Douentza, and in the months that followed the Islamist extremists forced women to wear veils and enlisted children as young as 12 as soldiers in training.

French and Malian forces also took the town of Diabaly, which lies 120 miles west of Mopti, on Monday after Islamist fighters who had seized it a week earlier fled amid French airstrikes.

The presence of Malian soldiers in the two towns marks tangible accomplishments for the French-led mission, which began Jan. 11 after the rebels pushed south and threatened the capital, Bamako. But there are grave doubts that the Malian army will be able to hold newly recovered territory without foreign support. The coup disrupted the chain of command, and Malian soldiers in 2012 repeatedly gave up towns to the insurgents while putting up little, or no, fight.

While fighting raged on the ground in Mali, officials in Brussels discussed plans for the future. The newly appointed head of the planned European Union military training mission, French Gen. Francois Lecointre, is already in Bamako assessing the situation.

A senior EU official in Brussels dismissed criticism that the bloc is doing too little. Taking territory is one thing; holding it is another, the official said.